Writing's on the Wall
by DiehardJavaJunkie14
Summary: His handwriting wasn’t messy, but it wasn’t pristine, either. His G’s looked like the number six sometimes, and he wrote in all capital letters. Not like it mattered, but she noticed. It was one of those little things that made him Luke. Luke/Lorelai.


**A/N: This is a little oneshot for the gilmorespecific LiveJournal challenge for the month of August. The challenge was to include four things: banana, poppyseed, envy, and the word conundrum It's just something to get my muse going again, and I promise, I'll start updating more promptly. With the move and a lot of other issues that happened, I was just unable to find the time, the energy, or the muse to write. So I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates and please look out for everything to come your way sooner rather than later. That being said, I will get "Going, Going, Gone" up on the screen and start editing it for postage. Thanks again to all of you! Thanks to my beta, R.M. Jackson, for betaing this and being patient while I ranted about how much I hate that I couldn't write.  
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"Okay, everyone, the next number we're going to practice is 'Glee Club Rehearsal,' so I hope you've all learned your lyrics by this time in the production," Miss Patty called out to the Stars Hollow cast of 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'.

Lorelai groaned. She finished the final stitch in the zig zag design on the yellow t-shirt that Andrew was going to wear. Folding the t-shirt, she groaned and looked to her right, where Luke was measuring a piece of plywood for a piece of background scenery. "God, if I hear that song one more time, I'm going to lose it. I swear, this song has been stuck in my head more than 'Scotty Doesn't Know' right after I saw Eurotrip for the first time."

"You're the one that volunteered us, therefore I have no sympathy for you," Luke replied without looking up from his work. He picked up the measuring tape and allowed it to snap back into its compartment, causing Lorelai to jump at the sound of the metal hitting the plastic.

She rolled her eyes and pushed a stray hair to the side. Holding the shirt up to ensure that it looked okay, she put it back on her lap for more maintenance. "Seriously," she continued as she threaded the needle again. "This is almost as bad as that Gwen Stefani song. Bananas…"

"Don't go there," Luke said, pointing the three or four inches of the measuring tape in her general direction as an attempt at warning her.

"Ah, I forgot that I dragged you to the music store to listen to it," she grinned. She brushed off a piece of lint from the black felt and continued. "But seriously, this song. The part when they're like, 'what's an enigma?' really annoys me."

"And why is that?" Luke asked, taking a nearby piece of paper and writing some measurements down. He placed the paper on the chair next to him as he stood up and pulled the piece of plywood off the floor of Miss Patty's dance studio and leaned it against the wall.

"Because. There are a ton of other words the writer of this musical could have used. Instead of enigma, how about conundrum? Kids would be much more prone to enjoy the word conundrum than they would to say 'enigma'."

He took a seat next to her, tucking the pencil behind his ear. She felt him sit down, but she continued to sew. She was determined to finish the shirt before rehearsal was started so it could be fitted. Luke reached behind the chair and handed Lorelai a cup of coffee from the diner. She accepted it, dropping her sewing project and leaning in to give Luke a kiss. She pulled back, took a sip of coffee, and simply smiled in appreciation.

"What?"

"What?"

"You're smiling."

"Usually an indication of happiness."

"You're happy?"

She grinned and took another sip of coffee. "Why wouldn't I be? Now that I have coffee, you're going to have to get me a Danish. It's Danish day. So that means, everyone here is going to want a Danish when you go and get me one. Essentially, you're taking orders for everyone here."

He pressed his hands to the bill of his baseball cap and groaned. "Ah, jeez. Why didn't I think of that before I decided to do something nice for you?"

"Because you know the consequences of me going for more than an hour and a half without coffee are extremely grave," she teased, raising her eyebrows at him as she took another sip of her coffee.

As Luke searched for an extra piece of paper, Kirk walked over to Lorelai, eyeing the dog-ears sitting on the chair to her left. He stood for a moment, staring at Lorelai, and then at the ears. Lorelai simply stared back and sipped her coffee. Before long, Kirk stomped his foot and crossed his arms, jarring Lorelai out of her thought process.

"You know, I'm beginning to think that your unprofessionalism is getting beyond an acceptable level," he deadpanned.

"How so, Kirk?"

"I came over here, stared at the fuzzy black ears you made, stared at you, and then the ears again, hoping you'd put your precious cup of coffee down for just a moment so I could be fitted with the best Snoopy ears on the planet. However, while you're the best costume girl in Stars Hollow, that doesn't give you the right to be a diva."

Lorelai quickly swallowed her coffee. "Kirk, you're the one acting like Naomi Campbell right now, just please don't throw a cell phone at me."

"Give me my ears," he muttered, reaching behind her and taking the Snoopy ears. He placed them on his head and stomped back toward the makeshift stage.

Lorelai glared at Luke, handing the yellow t-shirt to Andrew as she walked toward him. Crossing her arms, she cleared her throat to make her presence known. It wasn't fair that he could go gallivanting around Miss Patty's studio, taking orders like she told him to, while Kirk was clearly harassing her. She stood next to him, reading the orders over his shoulder.

For a moment, she forgot she was angry with him as she watched him scrawl Taylor's breakfast order on the piece of paper. His handwriting wasn't messy, but it wasn't pristine, either. His G's looked like the number six sometimes, and he wrote in all capital letters. Not like it mattered, but she noticed. It was one of those little things that made him Luke. Sometimes, he would leave her post-it notes in the morning telling her what time he had made the coffee, or that he would bring her something to eat for lunch. She remembered waking up in the morning and squinting one eye to decipher the concise message about the coffee, or about someone who had called for her. Grabbing the post-it note, she would pour herself a cup of coffee and sit at the kitchen table, sticking the post it note next to her, and letting it sink in as she woke up. As she drank more and more coffee, she would often notice the quirks in Luke's handwriting.

Lorelai also remembered the first morning she woke up and wanted to know how old the coffee in the coffee pot was. And as she squinted and felt the area around the kitchen counter, there was no post-it. As her bare hand hit the counter repeatedly without making contact with a piece of paper, her heart sank more and more.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she focused on Luke writing 'poppy seed bagel' under Taylor's name. Lorelai scrunched up her nose. "You actually have poppy seed bagels in the diner?"

"Why does it matter? You wanted a Danish."

She rolled her eyes. "So not the point. Where were you when Kirk was verbally abusing me?"

"Kirk's annoying, but he's not capable of verbal abuse," he grumbled, folding up the order and sticking it in his back pocket. "I'll be back."

Lorelai nodded and watched Luke walk out of Miss Patty's studio. She reached for her sewing kit and went to work on Gypsy's Peppermint Patty sweater. She stitched the hole and started to look around at the set coming together. The only thing it needed was the scenery pieces. Lorelai's eyes darted to the in progress props Luke had started to make. He had a system going already. Signs were taped to the walls with the words "Schroeder's Piano", "Background scenery", and "Snoopy's Dog house" written in thick black sharpie.

She found herself analyzing the handwriting for a moment before poking herself with the needle. Flinching, she shook her head and reached for a band-aid in her sewing kit. Lorelai felt stupid for staring at the handwriting again, but she couldn't help but think about how long it had been since she'd seen it. She and Luke had only been together again for a few weeks, but the little things kept showing up to remind her what she was missing while Luke was gone.

After securely fastening the Cookie Monster band-aid to her left index finger, Lorelai continued to sew the sweater and ponder her new relationship with Luke. She felt silly for doing it, but it was time that she thought about it. She and Luke were really back together. And she really liked being able to say that to people.

Her mother was a different story, but she would find out in time, after all.

Lorelai folded the sweater and reached for another shirt to decorate as Luke returned with everyone's breakfasts. He walked over to her, dropped off a bag with several cherry Danishes, and without a word, handed her a new hot cup of coffee. He handed everyone their orders and sat down next to Lorelai when he was finished.

"That was sweet," she said with a smile.

"What was sweet?"

"The fresh cup of coffee and the twenty gazillion Danishes."

"It was no big deal."

She shrugged. "I thought it was. I mean, I love that you know exactly how to make me happy. I asked for one Danish, and you brought me like, eight."

"I've watched you eat for years. I knew if I only brought you one, you'd ask me for twelve more," Luke grumbled, taking a sip of his tea.

"Still," she continued, "it was sweet. And a coffee refill, too."

"You have to stay awake to make the costumes for this train wreck, right?" Luke asked.

"Well, I've gotta say, the writing's on the wall on this one."

He turned to face her. "Huh?"

Lorelai smiled, brushing a stray piece of thread off her sleeve. "This is going to work this time." The handwriting was only one of many signs that she was seeing lately that pointed to how much she had missed being with Luke. But this had to be the biggest one yet.

"O… kay," he agreed hesitantly. "What are you talking about?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Get back to work; Naomi Campbell needs her Snoopy dog house."

"You're crazier than I thought," he insisted.

"And you're pretty," she cooed, watching him get up and get back to work on the scenery.

He was back, and she loved it.


End file.
